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UK - StageHand has been chosen as the new 'public facing' name for the Production Services Association (PSA) Welfare & Benevolent Fund after a PSA Conference call for ideas by the Fund's chairman, Mike Lowe of Britannia Row Productions. It comes with a new logo depicting a helping hand.

The new name is registered with the UK Charity Commission in addition to the name 'PSA Welfare & Benevolent Fund', and donations can be made in either name. The charity is also registered with JustGiving.com, which allows the tax value of donations to be reclaimed under the Gift Aid scheme, boosting the value of individual donations significantly at no extra cost to the donor.

"We felt it was time to have a punchier and more memorable handle for the charity," explained Mike Lowe. "We've recently seen a surge in donations, largely thanks to the efforts and generosity of PSA member

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Glastonbury 2011 - Coldplay have been confirmed as one of the three headliners at this year's Glastonbury Festival in Somerset. The band will play the main Pyramid Stage on Saturday 25 June. Organiser Michael Eavis said, "Coldplay have played such a major part in the festival over the last 10 years or so. This is the triumphant return of a band that everyone here feels part of. They're one of the greatest phenomena to grow from these fields." Coldplay last headlined Glastonbury in 2005 and also topped the bill in 2002, three years after first appearing at the festival. Beyonce has also been announced as a headliner and will perform on the Pyramid Stage on the last day of the event, Sunday 26 June.

Eurovision Latest - X Factor twins Jedward have become Ireland's next Eurovision entrants with the song Lipstick. The duo beat four other acts on RTE's Late

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UK - The First Night Riders - a group of motorbike riding, theatre professionals and their friends - will once more don their leathers and helmets to raise much needed funds for The Theatrical Guild (TTG). As 2010, the one-week motorcycle ride is scheduled to visit some of the UK's most exciting theatres, towns and cities. However for added excitement riders will this year visit the Isle of Man TT course and also Stratford Upon Avon, where they will have the privilege of seeing a new production of Macbeth at the regenerated Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

The 2011 ride will rev up and burn off from the National Theatre on 18 June and the event will climax on 25 June at Alexandra Palace.

Motorbike enthusiasts from the industry are invited to join in, feel the wind in their hair and raise money for TTG, either on a daily basis or for the whole engine-revving week. Information

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USA / UK - Richard Cadena, a respected lighting designer and entertainment technology media professional, has joined the PLASA staff. Richard will serve as the Technical Editor for Lighting&Sound America and Lighting&Sound International magazines, and, at Protocol magazine with sr. technical editor Karl Ruling. Additionally in the PLASA North American office, Richard will serve as assistant technical standards manager.

Richard will take over as Technical Editor of Lighting&Sound International magazine from James Eade, who has helped the PLASA Media team steer the technical content of L&SI for the past nine years. Lee Baldock, editor of L&SI since 2004, said: "James has made a huge contribution to the technical content of L&SI over the years, while still running his own successful business, e-Mech. I personally would like to thank him for all his help and guidance over that

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UK - Comedian and musician Tim Minchin has just finished a seven-date tour of UK arenas where he performed with a full orchestra. For this demanding audio production, Dutch rental company Da Capo, chosen specifically for its orchestral experience, deployed a number of DiGiCo SD consoles to cope with the extensive requirements.

"We are very experienced with in-ear monitoring for orchestras and have specific systems that we use," says Da Capo founder and sound designer for the tour, Rob van der Meijs. "Initially, monitor speakers were requested, but the sound level on stage should be as low as possible so we recommended in-ears instead."

Using a system devised by Da Capo, every musician was supplied with his or her own personal amplifier. This enabled them to listen to the mix from the monitor engineer and to mix in the vocal and their own instrument to the t

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Australia - LSC Lighting Systems has announced the release of the new Redback Wallmount range previewed at PLASA last year. The new Redback sports a number of features including, optional relay channels, RDM, various output connector configurations, external wallplate control and a 'slim figure'.

A Redback Wallmount may be specified to be a combination of conventional dimmers and/or relay channels to power LEDs and intelligent lighting fixtures. For example, a 24-channel 'combo' unit provides 18 channels of dimming as well as six channels of relay in the same chassis.

In addition, the relay modules can be configured to be switched on or off using DMX512, auto-powered - to improve energy efficiency - or controlled via a number of other methods in the same fashion that the standard dimming channels may be controlled.

The relay outputs provide direct power by utilising physical

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UK - Road Ready Cases (UK) has announced the introduction of a new staging system for indoor and outdoor installations - All Terrain by IntelliStage. This product line will complement the current IntelliStage system. The All Terrain system is designed to be installed on any surface, on uneven ground and slopes and can be exposed to the various weather elements. A Single 1m platform can be adjusted from 24 to 48" high and can handle loads of 260 lbs / 1sq.ft. This all aluminium system is light and durable and comes with all the necessary accessories. The system will be launched in the U.K at PLASA Focus 2011.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - The first of Artistic Licence's training days, initiated and sponsored by Artistic Licence's Wayne Howell, took place on 9 February 2011. The DALI Training was deemed "a great success and attended by industry leaders, from a wide range of disciplines, working at the forefront of DALI and DMX installations". Artistic Licence Engineering MD, Simon Hobday, led the training and answered questions on this comparatively new, but ever more frequently used, protocol.

In addition to the training, the day provided a good discussion forum and delegates came away feeling they had learnt valuable points. "DALI and DMX are being pushed as major protocols and it is important that we should be up to date on the methods and means of DMX / DALI conversion and also the problems, limitations and compensation methods of doing so," says Paul Simson of Enliten.

"It was

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USA - The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday 13 February showcased a broad spread of musical performances and tributes and utilised the latest in technology to provide television viewers worldwide with a high-definition/5.1 surround sound event.

The Grammy Awards' technical staff consists of audio pioneers who continually strive to employ the latest in HDTV and 5.1 technology to enhance the show. The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing members Phil Ramone and Hank Neuberger again supervised the broadcast audio, while fellow P&E Wing member Leslie Ann Jones supervised the house audio.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Entertainment lighting specialists White Light collaborated with students from the Central School of Speech and Drama for the second successive year to create a showcase of the latest in lighting technology for an audience of lighting designers, technicians, consultants and others.

Held in late January, the event once again presented the equipment in a real theatrical setting, Central's Embassy Theatre. There, the equipment was set up and programmed by students from Central's lighting courses to create introductory shows that showed off the potential of the equipment. The students were then on-hand to respond to requests from visitors to demonstrate particular products or features.

The day featured early appearances for Robert Juliat's new Aledin LED Fresnel, the PixelRange PixelSmart LED washlight, Pulsar's new UV LED Chromaflood, the Galaxia LED washlight newly distribu

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Kazakhstan - The Asian Winter Games were recently held in Astana and Almaty, Kazakhstan, and hosted more than 1,500 athletes representing 45 National Olympic Committees of Asia. Athletes from 27 Asian countries competed for a record 69 sets of medals.

Moscow-based contractor ARG was awarded the contract for the Opening Ceremony on 30 January 2011, and they in turn called in The Prolyte Group to supply a number of elements to help realise their vision.

The ceremony, at the newly built 30,000-seat Astana Arena, began with much fanfare and jubilant activity. The entertainment comprised a cultural extravaganza depicting the history of Kazakhstan, aided by a virtual "eagle's eye view" of the country's vast plains. The ceremony included dance, song, distinctive musical instruments and props that came to life.

The centrepiece of the impressive production was a waterfall t

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Uganda / UK - When Peter Fairhurst of Visual Engineering approached Fuzion on behalf of a client in Uganda, neither party knew what to expect. The initial enquiry was intriguing to say the least, with a request to provide "a small portable PA system that they could load in a single truck, turn up at say, a football stadium and address up to 20,000 people. The system would then need to be broken down and moved on to the next venue".

Following introductory concept discussions with Peter Fairhurst, it emerged that the system was to be used by the current President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni for the current national election campaign.

Fuzion's Jimmy Potter and Edmund Draycott combined their expertise to create a powerful, easy-to-rig PA system that could be assembled and dismantled in less than an hour.

They decided that Nexo Geo S was answer. The rig comprised nine Geo

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South Africa / UK - Two South African Roadies Association (SARA) senior trainers - Naledi Makhetha from Orlando East, Soweto, and Bernard Sebothoma from Orange Farm, Vaal, will join SARA president, Freddie Nyathela in attending The National Skills Academy Creative & Cultural (NSA) Annual Industry Conference 2011 which takes place at the newly opened Pavilion Dance in Bournemouth (UK)on 1-2 March 2011.

Conference speakers will include John Hayes, Minister for Business Innovation and Skills, Paul Latham, COO- Live Nation UK and Chair of NSA Board and other key figures from the technical and production sectors. There will also be a series of masterclasses.

The purpose of SARA'S visit is to attend the industry training and educational seminars, network and engage with industry players regarding knowledge and skills development issues, and also understand the qualification standard

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Olympic Countdown - Creative director Kim Gavin, who was behind Take That's Circus shows, has been appointed artistic director for the closing ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Gavin, who is currently working on Take That's forthcoming 2011 European tour, directed both the Concert for Diana and the Help for Heroes Concert. He will work closely with Danny Boyle, the artistic director of the Olympics' opening ceremony and the director of the Paralympics' opener, who is yet to be announced.

Gavin said he wants to put a "UK stamp" on the proceedings. Speaking to The Stage, Gavin said: "I think first and foremost [on my mind] is what would you like to see in the stadium and how do you want to feel. We have a time constraint, in that the last thing that happens in the stadium is 16 hours before we have to perform so that has to be considered

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UK - Production Services Ireland has run its latest round of three two-day Rigging Awareness Training courses, which were completely sold out. The courses were held at PSI's Belfast HQ, where an area of the warehouse has been designated, complete with a full training truss structure set up.

Courses were limited to eight people per session, although such was the demand that 10 were accommodated on the final course. The cross section of attendees represented all areas of the industry and included venue personnel, freelancers and sound, lighting & staging rental companies. Three technicians from BBC Northern Ireland were there along with two from University College Dublin.

Freelancer Phil McVeigh used the course as an invaluable all round 'primer' opportunity before going on to successfully complete his National Rigging Certificate (NRC) Level 2 in the UK the following week.

Th

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UK - High Wycombe-based industry distributor, A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd is launching a training programme to find new recruits for its expanding sales teams, aimed at individuals currently working in the entertainment sector, or with previous sales experience and looking for a change of career.

The three-week paid training programme will give candidates a thorough induction to some of the most popular and industry-standard lighting, audio, rigging and video entertainment technologies stocked by AC-ET, which supplies over 200 brands to dealers, distributors and end users in 80 countries worldwide.

Successful candidates selected from the training course will then follow a development programme over the next 12 months, depending on their individual level of industry experience.

Originally launched in 2003, the training programme has proved extremely successful, with 6

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UK - inspHire reported a very successful Executive Hire Show this year. Enquiries for its hire software was up by 60% year on year and a sale on the first day of their inspHire Express solution from the 'Killer Deals' booklet showed signs that this year's show was one of their best ever.

"The Executive Hire Team has delivered another great show", said Graham Dobbs managing director at inspHire. "The level of enquiries was excellent and there was a fantastic level of interest from our existing customers in our newly launched inspHire-iX, the Apple device application for inspHire users on the move. We also had a lot of interest in RFID, which will help hire companies to speed up their processes and therefore bring efficiencies to their businesses. I think everyone at the show felt the buzz again this year which is really encouraging."

inspHire again hosted th

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Australia - ENTECH 2011 show organisers have confirmed an agreement with PLASA, the leading international membership body for those who supply technologies and services to the event, entertainment and installation industries.

ENTECH 2011, which takes place at SCEC on 19 - 21 July 2011, will now include a new stream in its educational program featuring international speakers from PLASA's extensive global membership base.

Over 4000 visitors are expected to register for ENTECH 2011, and attendance at the seminars will be offered on a first come, first served basis. Visitors will be able to secure their seats for a seminar via the ENTECH website in the coming weeks.

PLASA's CEO, Matthew Griffiths said: "We are pleased to be involved in one of the premium industry events in Australia. We see this alliance as a great opportunity to support the future development of our indust

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Ballet News - Sir Paul McCartney is to write his first original orchestral score for a ballet performance. The former Beatle is collaborating with the New York City Ballet company (NYCB) on Ocean's Kingdom. "I am always interested in new directions that I haven't worked in before, so I became very excited about the idea," Sir Paul said. The production's world premiere will take place on 22 September. More performances will be announced later. In an interview with The New York Times, Sir Paul said the show was a love story based in two fantastic worlds - the "pure" ocean kingdom, and the earth kingdom with its "sort of baddies". In 1991, Sir Paul wrote the Liverpool Oratorio with Carl Davis for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra's 150th anniversary.

Political Moves - A hip hop musical based on Nick Clegg's role in forming

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USA / UK - Lighting&Sound International magazine (LSi) welcomes Richard Cadena as its new technical editor. Richard, a respected lighting designer and entertainment technology journalist, will be based in the United States and will contribute to the technical content of all PLASA Media titles, including Lighting&Sound America, and Protocol magazine.

Richard will take over as technical editor of LSi from James Eade, who has helped the PLASA Media team steer the technical content of LSI for the past nine years. Although Richard officially started with PLASA Media on 1 March, there will be a longer hand-over of duties with James. Both the March and April 2011 issues of LSi will see James's input as technical editor, and Richard's first contribution to the magazine will appear in the May issue.

Lee Baldock, editor of LSi since 2004, said: "James has made a huge contribution t

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UK - Just three weeks after FRANK Water FreeFill launched at the Event Production Show, the water charity has confirmed WOMAD 2011 as the first festival to sign up to the pioneering initiative this summer, with strong expressions of interest from a number of other major promoters.

On average, a single person will drink 10 bottles of water over a festival weekend and at a festival such as WOMAD which attracts 30,000 people, this means around 300,000 water bottles are used, posing an environmental risk and a costly recycling exercise for organisers.

FreeFill has been developed to tackle this problem and drastically reduce the amount of plastic waste through a scheme that offers festival goers access to unlimited filtered, clean and chilled water by purchasing just one re-useable bottle at a festival and refilling rather than re-buying. This enables a cost-efficient option for fe

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UK - Romers Electronics has relocated to larger business premises and has appointed two new company directors to stand alongside managing director John Caton who has been working at Romers for over 30 years.

Former senior project engineer Lee Thompson has returned to Romers as operations director along with Sid Makinson who will be commercial director.

"The investment we have dedicated to these developments forms part of the commitment Romers has in continuing to build strong business relationships with our customers, both old and new and to assist with the growth Romers have recently relocated to a new office and workshop on Hamilton Street Industrial Estate in Blackburn, Lancashire," says the company.

(Jim Evans)

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Allen & Heath will show its new iPad application for its iLive digital mixing system at PLASA Focus: Leeds 2011. iLive MixPad connects to an iLive MixRack on a wireless network and provides the essential controls for live mixing, including channel faders and mutes, DCA faders and mutes, image controls, aux sends, channel processing, mic-pre control and full metering. Channel processing encompasses high-pass filters, gates, parametric and graphic EQs, compressors, limiters / de-essers and delays.

iLive MixPad also offers several useful tools for system set-up, including channel assignment to mixes, a real time analyser and the facility to name and colour channel strips.

Glenn Rogers, managing director of Allen & Heath, comments: "As soon as we saw the iPad we were excited by the prospect of giving our iLive customers portable, intuitive control for mixing a show. In certain situa

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Sussex based Technical Performance & Presentation, the exclusive UK reseller for RC4Magic Series 2 wireless transmitters and receiver/dimmers for the stage and entertainment industry, will show the system at PLASA Focus: Leeds 2011.

"R3" is now shipping and the company will demonstrate the product on its stand. The RC4 Magic Series 2 wireless DMX and wireless dimming system consists of a transmitter, the DMXio, and receiver/dimmers, DMX2dim and DMX4dim. A high gain transmitter and high power receiver/dimmer are also available.

More information is available www.theatrewireless.com.

PLASA FOCUS RA-A15

  1. Le Maitre to launch 'virtually smokeless' pyro range
  2. The Week in Lighting & Sound
  3. Nexo Brings New Stage Monitors to PLASA Focus
  4. Time Trial Challenge a Hi-Light of PLASA Focus
  5. Audio-Technica to show quartet of new products
  6. Road Ready Cases adds new All Terrain to IntelliStage system
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